EzSEO Newsletter # 76
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EzSEO Newsletter # 76
Andy Williams ez SEO
ez-search-engine-optimization.com
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This week:
1. Updated PR
2. Does Google blah blah blah?
3. Is somebody using your Credit Card?
4. Getting the best out of Clickbank affiliate programs
Hi again
Hope you all had a good week.
In the town where I live in Tenerife, it is party time. These parties go on for days, and last through the night, every night. I am not exactly sure what the party is for except possibly as an excuse to drink wine, eat paella, and not go to work. Last night there were fireworks/loud bangs going off most of the night, so this morning I am a little tired. Still, only another couple of days to go ;o)
Let’s get on with this issue.
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1. Updated PR
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I am not one to dwell on Google Pagerank, as it is not accurately reflected in the Google toolbar most of the time (in fact, as a good buddy of mine says, Google PR is probably more about the traditional meaning of PR [Public Relations], than it is about a pages importance).
With the Google toolbar only updating the PR values every 3 months or so, it makes using this parameter to judge pages highly unreliable. I think this is what Google wants because it makes ranking manipulation far more difficult.
As an example, before this latest update, most web searches turned up pages in the top 10 for competitive searches with apparent PR values of 0. Check again now, and it appears that those PR0 pages have disappeared. In fact, they have not disappeared, the PR of those pages have just been updated for the first time in 3 months, so what was an apparent PR 0, is now showing as a PR 5 or 6.
As an interesting search site is:
http://www.prsearch.net
This site returns the Google search results (with a few sponsored links above Google’s results). It also shows the PR and backlinks of each page in the SERPs (Search Engines Results Pages).
Search for viagra. The average PR of the top pages in Google is about a 5 or 6.
Search for mortgage. The average PR of those pages is 6 or 7.
A few days ago, those PRs of the top pages probably appeared very different.
NOTE: If you find all pages in the results have PR0, try it again. This is happening occasionally, and I think it may have something to do with a new spam filter introduced by Google, aimed at stopping automated software from querying its results.
PR may not be updated for another 3 months, so if you want to do any analysis of top ranking web pages using PR, now is the time to do so.
Anyway, for you PR junkies, check your website PR - Google have just updated the toolbar again.
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2. Does Google blah blah blah?
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This is a question I get asked a lot. The blah blah blah bit can be substituted for a range of sentences:
e.g.
* distinguish between blue widgets, BLUE WIDGETS, Blue Widgets?
* Penalise pages that use H1 header tag?
* index the text in the meta description tag?
etc., etc.
This question is one that YOU can answer yourself, so if you were wondering whether Google does, do a little experimenting yourself.
Let’s take the first question. “Does Google distinguish between blue widgets, BLUE WIDGETS, Blue Widgets?”
This is an important question (and I get asked it a lot), because most webmasters want to know whether they should use all lower case, or capitals for certain words, or whether capitalisation should be natural.
The way to find out the answer to this type of question is easy. Go to Google and search for:
blue widgets
BLUE WIDGETS
Blue Widgets
What results do you get? If Google distinguishes between these searches, it will return different search results and numbers of pages. If Google sees them as all the same, it will return the same results.
OK, that answers that question - you are not expecting me to tell you the results now, are you ;o).
What about the second question:
“Does Google Penalise pages that use H1 header tag?”
This is a question I got asked this week. Well, how would you go about testing that?
How about searching Google for some competitive searches, visiting those pages, and see how many of them use the search term in an H1 header. That should give you an idea of the answer to that question.
The last question:
“Does Google index the text in the meta description tag?”
This question takes a little more experimentation to answer, but it is still an easy experiment.
Enter a phrase into a meta description tag on one of your page. Pick a phrase that does not exist on the web page itself - it should be unique to the meta description tag.
When that page gets indexed, do a search of Google like this:
mydomain.com phrase
e.g. search Google for :
ez-search-engine-optimization.com “search engine optimization”
This is my SEO site, and Google does return results for this query. That is because there are web pages that contain the both my domain name, and the search phrase.
Repeat using this query:
ez-search-engine-optimization.com “banana republic”
Google does not return any results.
That is because there are no web pages in Google that contain both my domain name and the phrase “banana republic”. If my meta description tag had been “spiked” with that phrase before that last index update, you would then have your answer.
So how can you tell if Google has the latest version of your page? Simple. Instead of clicking the link in the Google SERPs, click on the link that says “cached”. That will show you the web page that Google has in its index.
So next time you are about to ask me or any one else a question about whether Google does or does not, turn to the “Google Laboratory” at Google.com and do the research yourself. You will quickly learn a lot about SEO.
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3. Is somebody using your Credit Card?
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Imagine logging into your Paypal account and seeing that not only has your money disappeared, but money has been withdrawn from your credit card that is linked to your Paypal account.
You don’t use Paypal?
Well imagine going to pay for your groceries with your credit card and finding that your CC is denied. You know that you are not at your limit, so you phone the bank. They tell you “Sorry sir, but your limit has been reached”. On checking your balance sheet, you see a series of transactions in the last month that you did not make.
If this sound far fetched, believe me it is not. Theft in this manner is getting more common.
You have all heard of Spyware. It is so common, that I bet everyone reading this newsletter has some on their own computer (unless you have taken measures to ensure your PC is clean and protected).
I have always used Ad-Aware to check my PC for spyware, and regularly have to clean spyware off my machine. I thought this was enough.
I read a new eBook by Adrian Ling this week. It is not available yet, but will be this week. After going through the book and using the fr-ee tools that Adrian mentions in the book, I found several pieces of spyware infecting my PC that Ad-Aware did not find. I now have a real-time diagnostic tool installed.
If you do your banking online, or buy stuff over the net using your credit card, you are at risk.
I will be sending out a notification this week when the book is released. It opened my eyes to Spyware - something I thought I new a lot about. If you are not taking your own measures to protect your confidential information, I highly recommend you get his book when it is released.
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4. Getting the best out of Clickbank affiliate programs
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Last week I warned you about promoting Clickbank merchants who do not value you as an affiliate.
The summary of that article was this:
“Merchants can easily spot when someone signs up just to buy their product at a discount (stealing the commission from the rightful affiliate). If they don’t do anything to protect you, they are not worth promoting.”
Well, I got an email from a merchant this week, asking me what she can do to protect her affiliates from this type of commission theft.
The first thing I suggested was to remove the link to the affiliate sign up page, and only offer the affiliate program to customers.
Now this on its own is not enough. People can go to Clickbank directly, find the product, and create their own affiliate link, even if they don’t sign up with the merchant.
What I suggest all merchants do is to use a script to further protect their affiliates. The best one I know is EasyClickMate by Adrian Ling (yes the spyware eBook guy).
EasyClickMate is a script that allows merchants to give their affiliates more protection, as well as manage their affiliate programs. Using this script, the affiliate links no longer look like Clickbank links, and if the merchant installs this script on a domain other than the one the merchant is selling from, it makes tracking down an affiliate product at Clickbank all the more difficult.
If you are a merchant, you will find super affiliates are more willing to promote your stuff if you take these measures.
Harvey Segal is the most knowledgeable guys I know on Clickbank. He has written two good books on Clickbank that I highly recommend.
One is specifically aimed at teaching merchants how to run successful affiliate programs on Clickbank. It should be an essential read for all new merchants who want to learn how to set up an affiliate program properly using Clickbank.
For Clickbank affiliates, Harvey has written a book for you too. For affiliates who are disappointed with their Clickbank conversion rates, Harvey has the answers to your questions in his Super Affiliate Tips book.
Let me repeat this:
“Merchants can easily spot when someone signs up just to buy their product at a discount (stealing the commission from the rightful affiliate). If they don’t do anything to protect you, they are not worth promoting.”
Well, that’s it for another issue. If you want to read the recent issues of this newsletter, you can read them online here.
For older newsletters, you will need to visit the old internet marketing ezine archives.
Have a great week!
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